Kiki of Paris

After studying structuralism applied to cultural anthropology and linguistics, and then mathematical relationships in aesthetics (especially perspectives), Kiki of Paris published "Primary and polymorphic structures" in 1999. His works are sometimes introduced with a commentary, a kind of thread, as if the artist wanted to guide us into the depth of his experimental field. For the artist, the primary structures include reality in a fraction of time: meaning is systemic, everyone finds there what he or she sees. On the other hand, polymorphic structures are composed of a juxtaposition of elements, that brings a revealing meaning that none of the parts, taken separately, can allow to grasp. Kiki of Paris's work differs from that of Martin Parr, the master of vernacular photography. For Parr, ordinary scenes are self-sufficient in all their irony and pathos; whereas Kiki of Paris mixes them together to give them a new meaning. Among the influences on Kiki of Paris's work, we should note the encounters, even the brief ones, that have guided his choices and his destiny: Henry Miller of course; but also the American director Joseph Losey; and of course the survivors of the beat generation passing through Paris, especially William Burroughs and his worrying gaze, according to Kiki of Paris. "What makes the image is culture, photography is a piece of time encapsulated, the result is a composite chemistry. Add to this the "right moment, the time T, the meeting between the idea, the concept, the aesthetic and a well-framed subject". Trained as an ethnologist, Kiki of Paris observes his contemporaries and their interactions in the city. This specificity provides his work with accurate but sometimes cruel analyses, and increases the meticulousness of his work approach and study. The requirement can be seen in his production, voluntarily limited. For a few works per year, thousands of pictures are irretrievably destroyed. As an example, some of his compositions such as "The Messenger" required more than a year of research to be finalized. The artist exhibits very little, most often at private collectors' meetings.

• 1984 Bars de nuit à Paris — Night bars in Paris • 1985 Fractures sociales, l'example de Belleville — Social fractures. The example of Belleville • 1989 Obliques et perspectives — Obliques and perspectives • 1999 Structures primaires et polymorphes — Primary and polymorphic structures • 2001 Kiki of Paris (Telos Institute)